What do I tell them?
05-23-2006, 01:10 AM
#1
What do I tell them? last friday I was driving to work and I twisted/dented my driveshaft. Damaged my U joints and Yokes. What do I tell the warranty company so they will cover the damaged items? The car only has 43k miles and is under warranty until 70k or 2007. I don't have the money to fork out to buy and install all the parts myself right now.
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05-23-2006, 05:26 AM
#9
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Originally Posted by ss1129
Tell'em you hit some **** in the road.
If they use that excuse the will be promtly told to make a claim on their insurance.
05-23-2006, 05:35 AM
#10
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Originally Posted by GR8GAME
lol, actually i was shifting into second gear at about 4k, I needed to wake up so I took 1st up to 4k and then shifted to second (not powershifting) and all I heard was grinding. Is that all it takes? The car is all stock.
Most warranties have exclusions such as service items and "consumables". This generally covers tyres, filters, exhuasts, bushes and so on.
Driveline components may well not be covered, you need to check.
How did it happen? Is it really as you described, just shifting from 1st to 2nd at 4000rpm. Personally it sounds fishey, well fishey enough for a warranty claim to be investigated IMO.
If it broke on the street while the vehicle was being driven as designed and legally then you have a claim. Racing may be illegal on the street but putting your foot down isn't so long as you wheren't speeding. And as the legal system states you are innocent until proven guilty it would be up to the warranty people to prove you where in the wrong rather than the other way round.
If they say you where driving the car too hard or unsuitably, then you can explain that the red line is near 6000rpm so evidently GM meant it to be used in that way, also GM advertising was also based on performance and power. So they wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they pursued this route.
All else failing, just try and make a claim the worst they can do is refuse. And if you where doing something you perhaps shouldn't have been then you'll just have to bite the bullet and put it down to experience.
As a tip, you may have to fight this one but being polite instead of nasty or angry will probably get you further than going in guns blazing.
Hope this helps
05-23-2006, 05:55 AM
#11
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Just be honest and say you don't know what happened. It should be covered and I don't know how a stock car could have torqued your drivetrain so badly without you launching from a high RPM???
You honestly don't know what went wrong. Don't just answer the phone and say that you were shifting hard or you were "trying to wake up." You were driving, shifted, and you heard something and stopped. A shop assesed the damage and here is what they found. Just a suggestion.
You honestly don't know what went wrong. Don't just answer the phone and say that you were shifting hard or you were "trying to wake up." You were driving, shifted, and you heard something and stopped. A shop assesed the damage and here is what they found. Just a suggestion.
05-23-2006, 08:24 AM
#13
Originally Posted by orangeapeel
You know that they can find out what you were doing at the time off the incident if it caused code to throw or anything.
05-23-2006, 08:43 AM
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play dumb and tell em you hear this weird grinding noise and you cant put your finger on it. side note wouldnt your clutch granade before it got to your driveshaft on a stock hp car
05-23-2006, 09:03 AM
#17
From my experience with warranty claims it will go something like this: Warranty company cant tell you over the phone if its covered. They wont commit a direct answer to your specific problem until they have the facts in front of them. The facts will be ascertained by the mechanic who works on the car. The warranty will not cover damage due to anything but part failure. Example: you hit something and caused it to break it is not covered. The mechanic will tell the warranty company what he thinks caused the failure and they will go from there. Only you know all the facts of this case. Did you put the thing on a curb? The mechanic will be able to tell and it wont be covered. From my experience with these cars the u-joints don’t just fall out and the drive shaft get bent from normal use. Using nitrous and slicks might not be covered either. Were you at the track when this happened? They might want to see the tow bill. Trying to cheat the warranty company isn’t always that easy.
05-23-2006, 09:13 AM
#18
Some warranty companies have adjustors that come out and look at the damage. I know they looked at my friends truck and didnt want to cover it because he had aftermarket parts on it. The ended up covering it anyway.
From what you are describing there is no way that should break a driveshaft. That thing must have had a problem anyway.
From what you are describing there is no way that should break a driveshaft. That thing must have had a problem anyway.
05-23-2006, 01:03 PM
#19
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Originally Posted by orangeapeel
You know that they can find out what you were doing at the time off the incident if it caused code to throw or anything.
05-23-2006, 01:10 PM
#20
Tech Resident
that warranty you have til 2007...that's the powertrain warranty right? if so, don't think that'll cover the driveshaft. you gotta see what the drivetrain coverage is. it may only be 3 years/36,000 miles. who knows, i could be wrong. if not, i picked up an aluminum driveshaft from ebay for my old 3.4L firebird (from a Z28 camaro) for 120 bucks shipped. install took like 2 minutes but i had access to a lift and a torque gun.